2 June 2021

The blind will see: a neuroimplant for the restoration of vision was presented in Russia

The brain implant "ELVIS" will restore sight to blind and deaf-blind people. This is a breakthrough technology in the field of world neuroprosthetics and the first such development in Russia. Specialists from the Con-nection Foundation for the Support of the Deaf-Blind and the Sensor-Tech Laboratory are working on the cortical implant system. The project is being publicly announced for the first time today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"ELVIS" allows you to "connect" cameras to the brain and transfer images to it directly, without the help of the eyes. This process is provided by three blocks of the system:

An implant that is installed in the brain (in the visual cortex, the zone responsible for vision) and stimulates it with small currents. Thanks to this, a person begins to experience visual sensations and sees flashes of light.

Hoop with two cameras. The user wears it on his head, and the cameras read the image in real time, performing the "function of the eyes".

The microcomputer analyzes the images from the cameras, highlights the contours of important objects and transfers the processed frames directly to the implant in the brain. The microcomputer is attached to the user's belt.

The synchronous work of the three ELVIS components allows a person to begin to see the world around him - to confidently distinguish the silhouettes of objects and people, to understand where and what is. The technology will be effective for those blind and deaf-blind people who have retinal damage, optic nerve pathology or other severe visual impairments.

“ELVIS is a technology that will make it possible to transmit a video signal to the brain. Our developments now allow us to confidently say that we will make a medical device that will truly restore vision to the blind and deaf-blind. Tens of thousands of people in Russia and millions of blind people around the world dream of this. The project team has deep expertise in the field of bionic vision, and in the field of science we are assisted by partners - the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Center for Collective Design of RTU MIREA, ”said the head of the ELVIS project Denis Kuleshov, Director of the Sensor-Tech Laboratory.

Today the components of the ELVIS system are being tested on rodents. Then the technology will be tested on monkeys. In 2023, ten blind volunteers will receive a cortical implant. From 2027, operations will become widely available in Russia, and then in other countries.

“Several years ago, the wards of our Foundation were the first in Russia to receive bionic vision. Today we go further. Technologies are developing, and soon, thanks to a cortical implant, blind people will be able to see and rely on their own visual sensations, ”said Natalya Sokolova, Executive Director of the Con-nection Foundation.

Neuroimplant "ELVIS" will help blind and deaf-blind people, for whom no methods of therapeutic and surgical treatment are available today. This group includes patients with complex diseases such as terminal glaucoma (ranked first in the world as the cause of irreversible blindness), terminal retinitis pigmentosa, genetic retinal dystrophies, total retinal detachment, tumors of the optic nerve and optic pathways. Also, a cortical implant will allow people to see who, for whatever reason, are physically missing their eyes.

In the future, the ELVIS project team plans to develop implants for the treatment of other pathologies and diseases. For example, a neurochip could help patients with Parkinson's disease block abnormal signals that come from certain areas of the brain. Also, implants can remove chronic pain syndromes. Recording electrodes in the brain will allow you to control bionic hand prostheses with the power of thought. The implantation of microchips with electrodes into the somatosensory cortex will enable users to experience a tactile sensation from the prosthesis.

According to the WHO, there are more than 161 million visually impaired and 37 million blind people in the world. About 300 thousand blind people live in Russia. The ELVIS cortical implant can help restore vision for at least 20% of them. The technology is suitable for people who have completely lost their eyesight, but who have preserved their brain and have visual experience.

"ELVIS" allows you to return object vision and social independence, the ability to independently navigate in space and accurately determine objects that fall into the field of view of the camera. The project is jointly carried out by specialists from the Con-nection Foundation for the Support of the Deaf-Blind and the Sensor-Tech Laboratory with the support of the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Center for Collective Design of the Russian Technological University MIREA.

Project website: http://elvis-tech.ru